Angels With Dirty Faces: The Footballing History of Argentina

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The books featured on this site are aimed primarily at readers aged 13 or above and therefore you must be 13 years or over to sign up to our newsletter. For all his tactical acumen Bilardo owed so much to the genius of Diego Maradona, the ultimate example of the pibe, the urchin-like figure identified by Borocoto, the editor of the uniquely influential El Grafico, as the archetypal embodiment of Argentinian football and nationality. This is a book that begins in 1535 with Spanish conquistadores, so sometimes a whole chapter on how San Lorenzo beat some Bolivian team in the Copa Libertadores can feel a little trite. Strasznie bałem się, że książka będzie nudnym zbiorem faktów i statystyk, wzbogaconych notkami biograficznymi zawodników i trenerów rodem z Wikipedii, a oryginalny tytuł i ciekawa okładka okażą się tylko marketingowym wabikiem na frajerów.

Na koniec chciałbym przestrzec osoby, które chcą przeczytać książkę, ale nic a nic nie interesują się kopaną - pomimo ciekawej struktury i lekkiego pióra Jonathana Wilsona, Aniołowie o brudnych twarzach, to nadal książka o piłce nożnej i piłkarzach i jeśli interesujecie się Argentyną jako taką, to radziłbym sięgnąć po jakieś bardziej ogólne opracowanie, natomiast fani sportu po piłkarską historię mogą sięgnąć bez żadnych obaw. The Dutch, for instance, were explicitly linked with drugs, homosexuality, and excess and Scots with alcohol.It was the beginning of a long mutual misunderstanding, confirmed in the minds of the average English fan two years later when Manchester United met Estudiantes de la Plata in the two-leg final of the Intercontinental Cup. From an early age, Maradona was familiarized with the idea that pharmaceutical assistance was normal and natural. Los factores sociopolíticos que se entretejen con el balompie, la tumultuosa vida de sus brillantes atletas, el simbolismo de sus clubes más populares y las discusiones técnicas o filosóficas que construyen una de las tradiciones futbolísticas más importantes del mundo. Yes he’s an utter mess at times but he’s magical and brilliant at other times, just like the politics. The three lives in this creative nonfiction account are united by the presence of actual harm—sometimes horrific violence.

The referee Rudolf Kreitlin is escorted off the pitch by police at the end of a volatile World Cup quarter-final at Wembley after Argentina’s captain Antonio Rattín had been sent off in the defeat by England. In the later chapters Wilson traces the sad decline of the domestic game, its parlous financial state, endemic violence and the reduction of even the grandes to the role of feeder clubs which develop and then export talent to Europe and other emerging parts of the world. Całe szczęście Jonathan Wilson okazał się w tym temacie profesorem, a jego aniołowie mogą posłużyć za podręcznik.This all builds up a great picture of the footballing culture, however, as one that has always been riven by the desire to win by romantic individualist skills (the gambeta dribbling tradition) against the fear of losing and humiliation (especially by organised European teams), as particularly shown by the national side itself. In particular, he draws attention to ‘La Maquina’ (the machine), the River Plate side of the forties whose forward quintet combined to create one of the all-time great attacking teams, and who have perhaps not received their due as a result of falling between World Cups and pre-dating televised football. Against the constant rat‑tat‑tat of coups, counter-coups and assassinations, through the eras of Eva Perón’s descamisados and General Videla’s desaparecidos, football provided a sense of continuity, but it could not avoid being tainted by the violence and corruption of the society in which it grew. Though I’m sure there is nothing sinister in that regard and he is simply reflecting a northern European impression of the Latin look and demeanour which has been the subject of certain stereotype. Along with the World Cups there is, of course, Peron, Maradona, the Falklands, Messi and all those great Argentinian clubs like Boca, River Plate, Indipendiente (king of the cups), Racing, San Lorenzo (Pope Francis is a fan) and Estudiantes.

By 2012 it was only sixtieth, the result of recurrent military rule, political dysfunction and economic crises; in 1978 as the country staged its first and only World Cup to date under the shadow cast by its ruling Junta the New Statesman magazine described its failure as a nation as the greatest political mystery of the 20th century. There has always been a love/hate relationship for me when it comes to players from this region – coloured by my repulsion of Barcelona with the figurehead of Messi as they denied my club two Champions League titles in early 21st century.Parallels are often drawn between the political direction of Argentina and the fate of its football teams: for instance, the coup d'état which overthrew Juan Perón in 1955 and subsequent spiral into chaos is shown to mirror the rapid shift in dominant footballing ideologies from the freewheeling positivity of ‘la nuestra’ to a culture of cynicism, defensiveness and violence in the sixties. p. 8: "Alumni were the last of the great Anglo-Argentinian sides, insisting that their aim was to uphold "British value" as much as it was to win and to 'play well without passion. The conflict between idealism and pragmatism, menottisme and bilardisme, was reflected in the very different philosophies of Argentina's two World Cup winning coaches, Cesar Luis Menotti in 1978, Carlos Bilardo in 1986, yet despite his socialist principles Menotti was compromised by the fact that his team's triumph on home soil allowed the Junta to score a valuable propaganda victory. By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Coaches such as Osvaldo Zubeldia developed 'anti-futbol', eschewing La Nuestra and putting greater emphasis on physicality, pace and tactics as per the European model; his Estudiantes side was such a byword for violence and cynicism that after their success against Manchester United in the Intercontinental Cup the inimitable Brian Glanville despaired that the prevalence of such tactics would destroy football as a spectator sport.